


spectrum (say my name)

by merrylightcavalrymen



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Coming Out, Episode: s03e13 The Firebending Masters, Fluff, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Zuko (Avatar) has rainbow fire, im making that a tag - someone join me in it, overuse of ellipses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25382581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrylightcavalrymen/pseuds/merrylightcavalrymen
Summary: In which Zuko's fire gains some colours, and he finds it all too symbolic.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 5
Kudos: 294





	spectrum (say my name)

**Author's Note:**

> just wanted zuko to have rainbow fire after seeing ran and shaw so i wrote it? well, um, this is my first fanfic and the first thing ive written in a very long time so the writing's kinda basic and clunky but enjoy nonetheless !

“With this new move we learnt, Zuko and I will be unstoppable!” Aang cheered as he and Zuko concluded the Dancing Dragon by joining their fists.

“Yeah, it’s a great dance and all,” Sokka said as the rest of the group clapped politely, “but I thought you two went there to learn some firebending?”

Zuko scratched at his nape for a moment before replying, “Well, uh, you see… there are a few kinks with my firebending that still need working out...”  
  
“Oh, please,” Katara said, “This is just an excuse to postpone teaching Aang firebending so that Ozai will defeat him and let the Fire Nation take over.”  
  


“Katara!” Aang exclaimed, “Can’t you see he’s good now!”

“Oh and I suppose that’s why his firebending ‘still has some kinks to work out’?”

“Well, yeah? I think he’s just getting used to this new source of fire.” In truth, Aang had no idea what was wrong with Zuko’s firebending. He remembered hearing him let out a blast outside the temple while his back was turned, which was soon followed by a flummoxed sound, but he hadn’t seen nor heard him attempt firebending since.

“Likely excuse.” She huffed, “You’re too trusting, Aang. All he knows is fire, death, and destruction...

Although apparently not even fire.” She glared before storming off.

Zuko stood awkwardly for a while, then cleared his throat. “I think I’ll be heading off now… Bye.” And with that, Aang, Toph, and Sokka sat in silence.

“...Well that was awkward.” Sokka remarked. The rest of the group simply nodded.

\--

Zuko groaned as he knocked his head against a nearby tree. ‘ _Come on, come on,_ ’ he thought to himself, ‘ _just do it as you normally would._ ’ He inhaled, shifted into a steady stance, and let out a blast.

Swirls of purples, yellows, reds, greens, and blues emerged and kissed the sky. Zuko sighed. If he would let himself be honest, it was beautiful: as though life, death, love, destruction, hate, and creation were all intertwined.

He resigned himself to a nearby stump and rested his head in his hands. Agni, what did it mean? Aang didn’t appear to have the same issue. He recalled seeing him shoot a few enthusiastic fires and they were the standard reds, oranges, and golds the Fire Nation boasted. ‘Maybe because he isn’t gay.’ He thought bitterly.

Although he had never actually admitted it to himself, after burying it down for years, it was growing increasingly unavoidable. And now the universe was making it infinitely more evident, turning his own fire against him. A darker part of his mind briefly reflected on it being far from the first time fire, his own element, was used against him.

He was awoken from his thoughts when he felt a small rock hit him in the side. He glanced around and found a head of messy black hair peeking from behind a boulder.

“Toph?”

The rest of her emerged and she gave a nod, “Hi. Just wanted to get your attention first so as not to scare you and, yknow, get burnt again.”

Zuko grimaced. “Sorry about that.”  
  
“Nah, I’ve gotten over it.” She dismissed, before stopping to think, “Although, if you do want to make it up to me… Tell me what’s wrong with your fire.”

“Uh,” He stumbled, “Technically there’s nothing wrong per se.”

“And you let Sugar Queen get all mad at you for technically nothing?”

“It’s just embarrassing,” He admitted.

“More embarrassing than your ponytail look?”

“I- it wasn’t that bad-” he spluttered, “How do you even know about it anyway?”

“Sokka talks a lot,” she shrugged. “Now back to your fire problem.”

Zuko looked away and remained silent before turning back to face her, “Can I ask you something?”  
  
“Not what I asked for but go ahead.”  
  
“I just figured the Earth Kingdom is more relaxed on things like this...”  


“Spit it out, Sparky.”

“Whatareyourthoughtsonpeoplelikingthesamegenderasthem?”

“Woah there, take a breath.”

“Sorry.”  
  
“You need to work on how much you apologise, man,” she sighed. “But don’t worry I did catch that and honestly? It doesn’t matter who you like. I suppose things are different in the Fire Nation,”  
  
He gave a terse nod.

“But no one I know really cares. I can’t speak for the others but I really can’t imagine Mr. I Could Never Kill A Living Being, No Sokka Not Even For Food, condemning someone for who they like.”

Zuko smiled; that was a comforting thought. They sat together in a comfortable silence but Toph promptly decided to punch his shoulder and ask, “Now what does this have to do with your firebending?”

He sighed and raised his palm to face the sky. ‘ _Might as well._ ’ he thought, and released a small flame in a flurry of colours.

He looked to find Toph sitting there unimpressed. ‘Shit.’

“So, uh, I may have forgotten you can’t see.”

She stared at him, somehow looking even more unimpressed. “Ya don’t say.”  
  
He shrank back and let the small flame die.

Toph sighed, “No wait put it back: I might be able to feel something.”

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows for a moment but complied. Toph cupped her hands around it and hummed, “I think it’s softer?”

“Oh. I don’t actually know… but, uh, it has more colours now.”

“Oh,” She replied, “Nice.”

“I guess so.”

She exhaled. “And just why are you so upset over this?”  
  
“I’m not upset!-”  
  
“Right, and I’m not blind.”

“It’s just not normal, okay?” He chewed out.

“That still doesn’t explain why you refuse to do it in front of everyone. And why you’re so embarrassed; I mean it’s just a couple of colours, right? Harmless. Cute even.”

Zuko remained silent.

“Is it because you’re gay?”  
  
He squawked, “I’m not gay!” Toph looked at him with a blank stare. “I’m not gay.” He repeated.

“Then why are you so worked up over this colourful fire thing?”

“It’s not normal!”  
  
“Being normal sucks! What, would you rather not bend at all?”  
  
“No!”  
  
“Then what?!”

“I just want to be like everybody else for once!” He huffed and released an array of colourful sparks.

“Is this about the fire or being gay, Sparky?”  
  
He sank back down. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Both. Neither. The fire. I don’t know.”

She looked at him and patted his back awkwardly. “Look, I tell you this in full confidence, alright?” Zuko made a vague affirmative noise. “I like girls.”  
  
He looked up at her, “So you’re gay?”  
  
“Not exactly; I still like guys… just a lot less.”  
  
He hummed in response. “I don’t know what I am. I’ve never felt the way I think I should for girls. But it’s not like I’ve had much time to think about it: I spent so much time under the eye of my father, then going after the Avatar, then joining the Avatar and now this mess,” he finished with a small poof of smoke.

“Hm. Well, I certainly don’t envy you,”  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
“I was going to say: But, the coming out thing you can do at your own pace, at any time. You don’t even have to ever do it if you don’t want to. But if it counts for anything, I really doubt anyone here will judge you, and if they do: I’ll kick them into the next plane of existence.” She enunciated with a punch of her fist against her palm.

Zuko gave a soft smile, “Thanks.”

“Anytime, Sparky,” she said as she slapped his back, which was met with a sharp cough, “Shall we head back now? The sun’s going down.”  
  
“Yeah… yeah.”

Toph jumped up and beckoned for him to follow.

“Hold on, how can you tell the sun’s going down?-”

\--

Back at the temple, the rest of the group were huddled around a bundle of sticks. Katara was hurriedly preparing any foods they were able to find: mostly berries but they had managed to pull together some meat too. Meanwhile, Aang was determinedly shooting flames at sticks, only to find it constantly dying out. Sokka was the first to notice Toph and Zuko returning.

“Jerk’s back!”

“Done sulking, are you?” Katara called out, not taking her eyes off the berries.

“Shut it,” Toph yelled back as she dragged Zuko by the hand to the not-yet fire.

“Zuko!” Aang cried, “Thank goodness, I can’t get this fire to start.”  
  
“Oh,” He hummed, “Try placing a small flame in its core, then keep it burning until it’s large enough to sustain itself.”

At that moment, Katara decided to come waltzing back, pointedly planting herself between Zuko and Aang, and handed out bowls to the group: meat for herself, Toph, and Sokka, a bowl full of various fruits and vegetables for Aang, and a handful of berries for Zuko.  
  
“Sorry they’re raw… we don’t exactly have a fire set up.” She finished with a glare at Zuko.

“Sorry Katara,” Aang apologised, “I can’t get it to stay lit.”

  
  
“It’s alright, Aang,” she sighed, “It’s not like we have any other firebenders in the group…”

“I can firebend,” Zuko huffed.

“Then prove it!”

“Fine!” Zuko, without a second thought, conjured a spark in his palm and placed it in the centre of the bundle, letting it rise into a small yet glorious fire. He looked up to find everyone - barring Toph - staring at him, mouths agape.

‘Shit, shit, shit, shit’

“Uh,” he said, at loss for words.

“Dude!” Sokka cried, “Your fire!”

“What about it.” He asked as, as if on cue, the fire flickered and cast the group in shades of orange and blue.

“It’s- it’s-” he stammered, and settled on gesturing his hand wildly at the fire.

“Rainbow?” Aang supplied.

“Yeah!”

“Yeah, Zuko, what’s that about?” Katara asked slowly.

He sighed. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know why your fire is suddenly a hundred different colours?”  
  


“I don’t know,” he repeated.

“You must have some idea?!”

“I know Azula has blue fire…but that was because she was so naturally gifted at firebending. I wasn’t; I’m not. I’ve never been. So I don’t know.” 

“Unbelievable… were you just going to keep hiding that? Don’t you think it’s something we should know about? What if it’s more dangerous than usual?”  
  
“No! I just needed some time to figure out what it was.”

“Well,” Aang interjected, “It looks like what the dragons had so maybe you picked something up from them?”  
  
“But you were there too and yours is still just… red” he waved his hand around for lack of a better description.

“Could be something in your nature,” Sokka suggested.

Zuko’s cheeks went pink - he would later blame it on the fire - as Toph perked her head up. “Yeah, something like that I guess,” he coughed.

“Come on,” Toph redirected the conversation, “I’m hungry and this food won’t cook itself.”

“Yeah,” Zuko nodded, thankful for the change in topic.

“Well I think it’s cool,” Sokka added, “I love rainbows.”

\--

“Night, guys,” Aang called out as he retreated to his room in the temple, soon followed by Sokka and Toph to their respective places, leaving Katara and Zuko to clean up by the dwindling fire.

“Hey Zuko,” Katara said softly, “Thanks for the fire tonight.”

Zuko promptly turned to face her with a look of surprise. He gave a cautious, “You’re welcome,” in fear of aggravating her further.

“I mean it,” she sighed, “And … I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier.”

“Oh,” _‘this is new’_ , he thought, “It’s alright. I’m used to it.”

Katara frowned.

“I’m serious,” she shook her head, “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot, and I’m sorry if I’ve been a little hostile.”

‘ _What’s brought this on?’_

“I admit I can be a little overprotective of the group,” she continued, “But it’s only because I care for them! But what I’m trying to get at now is...”

She stuck her hand out, “Friends? Or allies at least?”

Zuko was the picture of confusion: he couldn’t process what was happening before him. Katara snapping at him every second and hating his very existence, he could understand. Katara apologising and wanting to be friends? It didn’t make sense; she should still hate him. Wait, how long had he been standing there?-

He accepted her hand without a second thought, “Friends.”

“Great!” She beamed. She began to head off to bed but first gave him a quick final message and smile, “And, Zuko? You’re welcome here no matter who you are.”

Zuko smiled politely. ...Oh. OH. She couldn’t possibly mean what he thought she meant, right? He shook his head. No. No She was just referring to him being Fire Nation… right? He stared at the back of her head as she left as he fretted internally.

\--

Sokka yawned as he joined everyone around the previous night’s fire, “What’s everyone here for?”  
  
“I think Zuko has something he wants to say,” Aang replied.

“Alright then.”

The group settled into makeshift seats in the dirt as Zuko stood before them with an air of awkwardness.

“So, I’ve given this a day of thought and I thought I owe it to you all not hide any more secrets: I’m gay,” he announced quickly, words stumbling over each other, “Or at least I think I am. I haven’t thought about it that much to be honest.”

There was a brief silence.

“Well, you have my support, Sparky,” Toph said with surprisingly more kindness the group knew she was capable of. 

Zuko gave her a tight smile, not yet wanting to look into the eyes of the rest of the group.

“Is this really what you woke us up for?” Sokka asked, stifling another yawn.

Toph elbowed him harshly, “That’s not what you say to someone coming out!”  
  
“Ow! Sory! Look, back at the water tribe, this kind of thing doesn’t really need saying. It’s pretty common.”

“Sorry Zuko,” Katara jumped in, “What we mean is: we accept you no matter who you are, and we would never judge.”

“Yeah, of course we support you,” Aang chimed in, “The monks always said love transcends physical bodies so it should never matter who you love.”

Zuko stared at all of them. He was beginning to feel overwhelmed with a feeling he hadn’t felt in an exceptionally long time. “Thank you,” he said quietly, wiping away a tear he didn’t realise he had shed.

They enveloped him in a hug. “Of course,” “Anytime,” they mumbled, and Zuko smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> hope the ending isn't too rushed, eep - just wanted to get it out there.  
> it was originally going to have an additional 
> 
> "“Hey,” Toph muttered after a beat, “Do you think there’s any way I could bend rainbow earth?”
> 
> “You can’t even see it!” Sokka cried.
> 
> “So?! I still want it!”"  
> but i didn't really like it... oh and, bonus idea: katara can manipulate droplets to form a rainbow  
> anyway, let me know if the line breaks are annoying bc the formatting changed a little when i copy and pasted it here


End file.
